New to the Job Hunting Marketplace? . . . Follow These 6 Success
Rules!
If you're a recent grad . . . or you're getting ready to hit the
job hunting marketplace . . . you better know and understand the
rules. Practicing them will dramatically upgrade your response
rate. Ignore them and you lose!
There's a lot been written about how to prepare a job hunting
resume and how to conduct an interview. Refer to the website
mentioned at the end of this article for tons of free
information on these important issues. However, before you even
get to the resume . . . and before you prepare for your first
interview . . . there are some basic rules that can be
overlooked to your peril.
1. Make sure your voicemail greeting sounds professional. It's a
major turnoff to employers trying to reach you to encounter some
sophomoric announcement that you think is cute.
2. Likewise, don't use an email address that you think is so
clever. It's probably not the first impression you want to leave
with an employer trying to reach you. For the purposes of your
job hunting, set up something simple like your first and last
names.
3. On the subject of emails, make sure you carefully proofread.
Not shortcuts or symbols you might use with close friends.
Instead use the same rules of punctuation and grammar you'd use
if you were writing a letter.
4. Make sure your cell phone is turned off before you go into an
interview. Nothing interrupts the flow of a good interview than
your cute ringtone!
5. Dress conservatively. Match your dress to the expectations of
the organization you're talking to. In any case, no jeans,
t-shirts, low necklines or sandals--even if you're talking to
some hip dot.com company.
6. Be sure to send a carefully crafted thank you letter. In it
you should summarize the particular strengths and capabilities
you can bring to the table.
Look, heading into the job hunting marketplace when you're new
to it is never easy. And there are many other important rules to
master. Fortunately there's a fast and easy alternative job
search system that can have you talking to your next boss in a
matter of days. In the meantime these basic rules can help you
launch your job campaign correctly.